colossal

[kuh-los-uhl]

adjective

1. extraordinarily great in size, extent, or degree; gigantic; huge.

2. of or resembling a colossus.

3. (initial capital letter),  noting or pertaining to a classical order whose columns or pilasters span two or more stories of a building.

colossal

/ kəˈlɒsəl /

adjective

1. of immense size; huge; gigantic

2. (in figure sculpture) approximately twice life-size Compare heroic

3. Also: giant. architect of or relating to the order of columns and pilasters that extend more than one storey in a façade

Other Word Forms

• colossality noun
• colossally adverb
• supercolossal adjective
• supercolossally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of colossal¹

First recorded in 1705–15; coloss(us) + -al ¹

Synonym Study

See gigantic.

Example Sentences

The most consistent explanation is a supermassive black hole slowly tearing apart a colossal star.

Read more on Science Daily

And the most likely funders - Saudi Arabia and the UAE - will need reassurances that their colossal investments are not simply going to go up in smoke in some future Gaza war.

Read more on BBC

There had been some sort of colossal explosion on a coral island in the South Pacific.

Read more on Literature

Natural light filters through vast triangular windows, illuminating both colossal statues and delicate jewellery from Egypt's ancient civilisation.

Read more on Barron's

He saw the Industrial Revolution unleashing “more massive and colossal productive forces than have all preceding generations together” in “scarce one hundred years.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• enormous 
• gargantuan 
• gigantic 
• huge 
• immense 
• jumbo 
• mammoth 
• monstrous 
• vast 

When To Use

What does colossal mean?

Colossal describes something as being very large in size, degree, or amount, as in I went to a colossal shopping mall that stretched for a mile. If something is colossal, it is enormous, gigantic, or massive.Colossal can also be used to describe a large degree of something, that is, a large amount or a large extent, like a colossal amount of boxes or a colossal advantage in the playoffs.Less commonly, colossal describes something as resembling a colossus, which is a very large statue, as in The large man was so colossal that he blocked the entire doorway.Example: Tyrannosaurus rex was a colossal dinosaur that towered over many of the smaller animals.